For the last year or so, the leadership organization/movement known as Catalyst has been exploring the theme of "Be Present". It's been all about making sure that as leaders we have one foot firmly planted in the "here & now" instead of being consumed solely with "what could be." After all, if you don't know where you are, you can't really get a vision for where you can go.
One way I've seen this tension at work in ministry leadership is the constant temptation for ministry leaders to focus primarily on what they can't do or aren't allowed to do in their current structure or tradition. I'm sure this is a tension in every area of leadership, ministry or otherwise, but the area of ministry leadership is what I know & live in everyday. There's not a leader in ministry, volunteer or paid, who hasn't struggled with this tension. In addition to that, there's the fact that church culture is a little more resistant to change than the culture in many businesses or other organizations. It's no wonder there's a little frustration on the part of leaders.
However, leaders' responsibility is to lead. That means progress has to be made, & if it can't be made in one area, there's a good chance there's another area where it can. The only problem is that if we as leaders are only focused on what restricts us, we'll miss out on the areas where we have freedom & flexibility to influence change or growth.
Here's a simple truth that we as leaders often miss: "To Be Present, Focus On What You Can Do Instead Of What You Can't." You can't "be present" as a leader while you're missing out on opportunities around you. Don't waste chances to lead in areas where you can make progress because you're angry or frustrated about the areas where you can't. After all, leading in the areas where you currently have the freedom to move may very well lead you to have future freedom in the places where you wish you did. Being present now in the things you can do may open the door to taking action in the things that you can't.
It's a tension we all have to manage. Just because you can't currently move in an area where you think you need to doesn't mean you shouldn't push a little. However, you cannot allow a roadblock in one area to distract you & consume you to the point that you miss out on the opportunities that do exist around you.
What areas in your leadership currently frustrate you because you don't feel you have the freedom to lead? On the other hand, what are the areas where you do have freedom? What are the opportunities in those areas that need your focus in order to see progress? How could seizing opportunities where you currently have freedom open the door to the areas where you don't?
I had an interesting conversation the other day about the varying opinions that anyone in leadership inevitably faces. Sometimes, literally every position on an issue or idea is represented in a group, & sometimes positions you didn't think existed are represented! So how do you know which opinions are more worthy of your time & recognition? After all, a leader can't act on every opinion that is expressed, much less the ones that are never voiced. One of the most effective ideas I've stumbled across (and believe me I stumbled onto it) is to draw a distinction between people who have an opinion & people who have perspective. It may sound like I'm splitting hairs, but there's something to this.
Think about it. Everybody has opinions. Even if it's a topic that we haven't given a lot of thought to, if someone asks what we think, we'll give our opinion on it. There's nothing necessarily wrong with it. It's just how we are. However, perspective requires something more than just talking about what we think.
Perspective Requires Investment.
People with opinions "think". People with perspective "know". People with perspective have invested themselves into something enough that their opinion is actually based on experience. You don't have to have that in order to form an opinion. There's nothing wrong with having an opinion & sometimes there's nothing wrong with voicing it, but the best opinions are really built on having a realistic perspective of the situation. Investment leads to perspective which leads to discernment.
So the next time you're confronted with a bunch of "opinions", try to figure out which opinion is really perspective, & that's easy. Simply ask, "Is this person invested?" Are they invested in you? Are they invested in the ministry? Are they invested in the business? Whatever the issue is, are they really invested? Not merely emotionally invested, but have they put in some sweat equity & time equity? Have they invested themselves into it?
Ministry can be really busy. It's really easy to get caught up in the everyday, often mundane, details. That's why it's so important to pull away every once in awhile & looking at what is actually being produced by all that work by you & the people you serve with every week.
Are lives being changed? Are people discovering their gifting? Are they discovering ways they can leverage those gifts to advance God's Kingdom & the name of Jesus? Life change is what it's all about. Here's a recent story of how God, His Word, & His people impacted one young lady's life.
Yesterday a fairly new ministry, Preaching Rocket, hosted it's first online conference. If you missed it, you missed out on preaching gold. Some of the most gifted communicators in ministry as well as a giant in the food service industry & one of the world's most successful comedians shared their insights about communication, preparation, & continuing to grow as a communicator. Here are a few of the big takeaways from my notes.
1) "Cook" Your Messages In A Crock Pot, Not A Microwave.
This idea was woven into some of the interviews that Jeff Henderson conducted. Jeff wasn't actually one of the guest presenters, but Jeff is an incredible communicator & teacher in his own right. His point is that your message is likely to be better the longer you let it ruminate in your heart & mind. If you're scrambling on Saturday night to get your message together, you may be able to bring some good information, but it probably has not had time to work its way through you.
2) Your Message Needs A Bottom Line.
Can you sum up your entire 30 to 45 minute message in a sentence? It sounds like an impossible task, but if you'll work on developing that one thing you want people to walk away with & then build everything else around it, your message stands a better chance of sticking & impacting the way people live their lives.
3) If You're Nervous About Your Sermon, You're Not Ready To Impact People.
Andy Stanley & Charles Stanley both brought this out in their interviews. When you take the platform worried about your performance or how you're going to look at the end of it, you are not really concerned about speaking truth & grace into the lives of the people in the audience. On top of that when you're worried about your performance, it's probably a sign that you're not really that well-prepared anyway.
4) You Can Only Preach As Well As You Pray.
That's straight from Dr. Charles Stanley. I don't think it needs any lame explanation from me. All I'll say is I heard as much about Dr. Stanley's prayer room during his interview as I did about preaching tips & tactics. It spoke volumes about him as a preacher.
5) Don't Leave Out The God Factor In Your Preaching.
It's very easy for preachers who have been preaching for a long time to simply rely on their exegetical & communication skills when preparing their messages. Louie Giglio talked about how easy that is & how easy it is to prepare an incredibly eloquent, persuasive message that is completely devoid of the power of God. Our messages don't change people; God does. If we're not begging Him to invade our words & leverage them for His glory, then we're leaving out a huge part of the preparation process.
6) Don't Leave Out The Fact That Jesus Was Not Just Fully God But Also Fully Man.
This came from Jeff Foxworthy of all people. When asked how he thought the 21st century church could reach men more effectively, he gave what was a very theologically deep answer. He said it's easy to paint Jesus as fully God when He's on the cross, but when you bring up the fact that He was fully man & really hammer that idea home, you realize "there's nothing sissy about Jesus." The problem is that most men see Christian masculinity as some soft, sissy thing, but when they realize that Christian manhood reflects the kind of man that Jesus was, it becomes much more appealing.
7) Preach With The End In Mind
Almost everyone communicated this concept in one way or another. Whether you do this or not can be seen in whether or not you give your audience something to do with the message. Do you have 1 or 2 action steps? Vanable Moody reminded us that the Word of God is a sword & a sword has 1 point. What is your 1 point? What is the 1 thing you want people to do with God's Word?
I could rattle off a lot of other takeaways, but since 7 is the number of completion, we'll stop there. Go check out Preaching Rocket's site & see if the resources they offer could be something that really benefits you in your preparation each week.
This week I've been sharing some of the lessons I've learned over the years that have helped me grow as a communicator. I'm by no means an "expert", but I know I've grown in a lot of ways in the last 17 years when I first began teaching & preaching. Of all the lessons I could pass on to any communicator, no matter what field or what level of experience, I would pass on this one.
5) Learn From Others
Newsflash: You are not the best communicator in the world.I don't care how many people love your messages or how many pats on the back you get when you speak, there are communicators out there in all sorts of fields that you & I can learn from. Listen to as many different communicators as you can from all sorts of areas of expertise. Listen to people from your particular field, whether their style is similar to yours or not. Personally, I listen to several messages every week from different pastors. Some of these pastors have similar backgrounds & styles as I do, but some do not. Some have speaking styles that are more conversational & casual while others are much more scholarly in their approach. If you find a book or article from someone about how they communicate, read it. If you have the chance to hear from well respected communicators, take advantage of it, & take A LOT of notes.
Fortunately, just such an opportunity is coming up next week. On Thursday, March 15th the folks at Preaching Rocket are hosting a FREE online conference where you can learn from some incredible communicators. If you're in ministry, this is a must. Communicators like Charles Stanley, Andy Stanley, Dan Cathy of Chick-fil-A, & Jeff Foxworthy will talk about everything from developing content to engaging your audience. Don't miss the Preach Better Sermons Conference.
